Driving the last Ford Falcon to Bathurst with Dick Johnson

Riding shotgun with a Bathurst legend for a final lap of Mount Panorama.

Driving the last Ford Falcon to Bathurst with Dick Johnson

06 October 2016David McCowen

Riding to Bathurst with Dick JohnsonBathurst legend recalls the highs and lows as Ford stops production.

Dick Johnson is the Ford Falcon personified.

The Queensland-bred team owner, racing driver, mechanic and innovator is equal parts champion and battler, a man with first-hand experience riding exhilarating highs and crushing lows in both business and sport. He was - and is - the face of Ford for many Australians, the ideal chauffeur to Bathurst for one last lap of the mountain.

The end of local manufacturing will change the Australian automotive landscape forever. Ford's decision to shutter its Geelong and Broadmeadows production facilities triggered the collapse of the Australian industry as Toyota and Holden were forced to follow suit.

While its significance as a museum piece means we can't drive the final car to leave Ford's production line, our XR6 Sprint is a fine substitute. Ford was right to assemble a six-cylinder Falcon sedan for its final model, as the 4.0-litre engine is locally made as opposed to America-sourced V8s.

This $54,990 XR6 Sprint is the best of its kind, a comfortable sedan with sledgehammer performance offered by a turbocharged engine capable of making 370kW and 650Nm of grunt through an overboost function. It feels quicker than a supercharged XR8, and it's clear Dick is impressed.

"It's very similar to the XR8 that I have. It's obviously got a bit of wick when you give it some. It really gets going," he says.

"Although the interiors could do with a bit of work, the performance is pretty damn good.

"For a car that's got so much get up and go, they drive around like a very docile machine, but when the turbo comes in it kicks you in the head, doesn't it!"

Like many enthusiasts, Dick is upset by Ford's manufacturing closure this week.

The Aussie icon says it is "very disappointing" that Australian-made cars are set to disappear, particularly as the cars are better than ever.

"It's a real shame that these cars aren't going to be produced here anymore, because they've improved these cars out of sight over the years, to be what I consider a world-class motor car. These are the best-built cars that Australia has ever produced.

"I just love the grunt that they've got."

Dick's driving reflects his personality. It's a relaxed flow that isn't as frantic as the Sydney traffic around us, making good time without earning the attention of the boys in blue. While the Falcon's stability control is completely disabled every time he takes a stint at the wheel, the big sedan's Pirellis never lose their hold on the tarmac.

I'd be fairly concerned about any other driving partner shutting down a car's safety system on a highway run. But Johnson isn't just any old driver.

And this isn't any old drive.

"It's a sad day," Johnson says as he reflects on Ford's final cars.

"It's a sad day not only for us as a race team but certainly for a lot of the people out there who have been Ford supporters for many years.

"In years to come these will become very collectable cars."

Dick's had a lot of road cars over the years, even building his own limited-edition run of XR8-based "DJR 320" Falcons in 2003.

But his favourite car isn't a V8, and it isn't even a Falcon, but a black Ford Sierra Cosworth similar to the model that brought him Bathurst glory in 1989.

"The best road car, without a doubt, was an RS500 Cosworth that we'd done a bit of work on," he says.

"Gee it was a fast car. I wish I still had it today, they're worth a buck and a half."

"Once going to Bathurst in the Sierra I got pinged for doing 240 kays. But it's amazing what a free t-shirt can do. [The police officer] got a t-shirt and a couple of posters and said 'you better take it easy'.

"Things have changed a lot... you can't get away with things the way you used to."

Johnson has a solid relationship with the highway patrol, many of whom drive fast Fords as part of their duties. He helped put together a 600kW Falcon GT for NSW Police in 2014, decades after they let him test a race car on public roads near Bathurst.

"We had to rebuild the engine and try and run it in on the Saturday night," he says.

"The police took us out on the old road to Lithgow and let us have a crack. That's what Bathurst is all about, isn't it?"

Johnson is at ease with his celebrity status today, though that hasn't always been the case. He reached national fame after crashing out of the lead in the 1980 Bathurst 1000, when spectators rolled a large rock on to the track.

Like AC/DC playing Thunderstruck every time they take the stage, it's a story he tells on a regular basis.

"I thought that was the end of not only my career, but my house and everything that went with it. Then people started ringing Channel 7 wanting to donate money to get us on the road the following season.

"It put us in a position where as a team we felt we had a lot of pressure on us. We didn't want to let any of those people down."

Johnson paid his debt to the public by winning the 1981 touring car championship in a cliffhanger at his home track in Lakeside before backing up for a maiden victory at Bathurst.

It wasn't long before Johnson was a household name, the face of national advertising campaigns for Shell, a sponsor that remains involved with his team, signing a landmark deal this week.

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Success came thick and fast with Shell, which went to such lengths as using its network of service stations as mobile weather reporting stations to support Johnson's Bathurst campaigns against Holden rival Peter Brock.

The post-millennium era proved difficult. Dick funded his race cars with fraught business ventures that almost swallowed his team before Jim Beam came through with a first-rate sponsorship package that allowed him to sign star drivers Will Davison and James Courtney, securing a landmark championship victory with the latter in 2010.

I can't help but feel Johnson is like the Falcon in more ways than one. Ageing icons that have lost some of their status in recent years, the pair will be remembered for decades to come, inextricably linked by the magic of Mount Panorama.

We pull up for a quick lunch at Macca's, where Johnson reveals this is only his third trip to the Golden Arches. Ever.

"The last time I had McDonald's was with Roger Penske," Johnson says, "He'd just done the deal to buy into the team and insisted we go there for lunch."

The American billionaire's investment gave Dick Johnson Racing a new lease on life, putting an end to financial instability that threatened to send the Queenslander broke.

DJR - Team Penske is committed to V8 Supercars, though the sport's long-term future is somewhat uncertain. While his outfit races Falcons, no team receives support from Ford and Holden has scaled back its investment in the sport. Volvo made the decision to pull out of local racing earlier this year, but Nissan will keep racing its Altima until the end of 2018, after Australian manufacturing draws to a close and the series opens the door to more than V8 engines.

The sport rewrote its rules to try and draw new manufacturers in, but it hasn't worked.

"It will be interesting to see what happens when it all finishes after all these bloody years - when Australian-made cars are no longer out there racing," Johnson says.

"I choked when [V8 Supercars] said they were going to sixes and fours, all that sort of shit.

"We've been down that road before, and we saw our fan base reduced, and the television ratings going backwards.

"It's the same sort of thing that's going to happen now. If it doesn't sound like a V8 that's a problem."

Acknowledging "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" is no longer a truism, he takes pause for a moment on the road between Lithgow and Bathurst as the mountain comes into view.

"When you come over the hill and see that Mount Panorama it brings back all the memories, it brings back how awesome the place is, how rewarding it can be but also how cruel it can be."

We turn off the Great Western Highway, up William Street and Panorama Avenue, remarking at the beautiful city's architecture and its contribution to the motoring way of life.

Dick cruises past Charles Sturt University - my alma mater - and we turn onto Pit Straight for a final lap of the circuit, Bathurst legend at the wheel and Bathurst tragic riding shotgun.

It's a slow tour of the track under a setting sun, never exceeding the road's 60 km/h speed limit. I wish we'd go slower, to drink in more of the director's commentary accompanying our cinematic moment.

We stop on the grid for photos - on number 17, naturally - before turning left at Hell Corner.

We climb Mountain Straight, arc through Griffin's Bend and scythe through The Cutting - the site of his smash with the rock.

Johnson has a story for every meter of tarmac. There are daring passes, shattering collisions and near-misses at every turn.

"It's one place where you can have the highest of highs and then in a nanosecond have the lowest of lows," he says.

Drive Comments

Jason S | 2016-10-07 17:43:15

Dick Johnson, what a legend! Unfortunately all the challenges of V8 Supercar racing was so predictable years ago when Tony Cochrane got carried away with short term success of a series based upon two makes of car with plummeting sales volumes and increasing irrelevance. To keep attracting manufacturer interest Touring car racing needs to revert back to the old formula of multiple makes and engine sizes. Better late than never.

Testpilot | 2016-10-08 21:51:31

In total agreement, the Ford vs Holden mob mentality killed it years ago for a lot people.